Runaway
by NumiTiarKuila
Summary: Clint Barton is one of the top ranking S.H.I.E.L.D agents, so what would it take to completely disarm this cold stone killer? It's quite simple actually, one former agent and her son. Dredging up the past isn't easy, but sometimes its the one thing that makes a person stronger. Clint/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all, to fill my sudden obsession of Jeremy Renner/Clint Barton I have created this! I hope you will read and comment on it so that I may better my writing skills. Thank you!**

**Clint Barton is one of the top ranking S.H.I.E.L.D agents, so what would it take to completely disarm this cold stone killer? It's quite simple actually, one former agent and her son. Dredging up the past isn't easy, but sometimes its the one thing that makes a person stronger. Clint/OC **

**Own nothing.**

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Clint sighed in the hospital letting his head thunk against the wall. Hours…they had lost hours because of this 'mishap'. Hours then turned into the entire day. He let out another sigh opening his eyes after another hour went by.

"Clint…" He heard Nat's voice as she was rolled out into the hall. He stood up looking down at her, "So…it's a lot worse than I thought it would be… broken femur."

"That's a big …big break…" He cleared his throat and looking at her well wrapped leg.

"I know." She swallowed, "Falling off a 'roof' does that."

He nodded slowly catching onto the story she must've told, "Femur…great…you can't dance on a broken femur." He muttered thinking about the parties they normally had to attend on missions. He thanked the nurse taking Nat from him.

"Can't do a lot on a broken femur Clint. Can't stand, can't walk, but you do get a lot of surgeries." She looked back at him and smiled, "And a lot of pain killers."

"They doped you already, fantastic." He shook his head sighing.

"Yup so I'm gonna be in Italy for at least three months." She told him, "First surgery is in two days."

"And they're just letting me wheel you out of here with a broken femur?" He questioned her.

She smiled up at him high as a kite, "I was very persuasive."

"Ah…" He sighed not wanting to really know as he walked her out to the car.

Great. Now he had to figure out how to complete the mission without her, well at least without her on his arm mostly. Let's face it when going undercover women were mostly there because of their sex appeal. He helped her into the car carefully, then pulled out of the parking lot into the night.

All the way back to the hotel he thought about his options. How could he make this work? He wasn't allowed to make contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. until they needed extraction. He was on his own.

Bringing Nat into the hotel room was whole mission in itself. _God, what did they give her, twice the dosage?_ He thought to himself as he set her on the bed as she giggled.

"I want soup." She told him sitting up on her arms.

"Right…I'll get you soup later, but I have to work now okay, you just…just rest." He pushed her down as she tried to get up off the bed.

When he finally got her to lie down he walked over to his bag pulling out his computer. He sat at the table and pulled up his Italy file. He started scrolling through everything. Contacts, agencies that owed him, fake company names he could use, a couple of photos.

_Photos? _His brows went together curiously as he clicked on them pulling them up and stared at the image.

It was a younger him about twenty years ago with his arm around a young dark haired woman with beautiful dark eyes. They were both smiling and looked happy. His chest tightened as he stared at the picture and clicked the next photo where they were kissing by a sunset.

Mara Berti, a European S.H.I.E.L.D agent. They had worked together several times over the course of two years making a good cover, and then roughly twenty years ago she disappeared from the agency. The pictures were for the cover up operation they had done.

People had believed them whole heartedly and it was mainly because of her. She played the perfect wife and together she made them seem like the perfect couple.

_It could work._ He shrugged and started clicking on the computer. It would take him a little while to actually bring Clint and Mara Archer back to life, not to mention he had to find Mara entirely.

Sure she had disappeared, but he had found her once before to see what had happened, though he never did get an answer. They were supposed to meet up like always for the mission, but last minute the agency replaced her. Nearly cost them everything.

"_Where's Mara?" The business associate at the party asked him._

"_We're taking a break you could say…this is my sister…"_

Clint blinked the voices of past doubt away. He was lucky the agent they replaced her with was well experienced and knew how to work quickly. Then the entire Archer family just faded, their billion dollar company continued to do their thing, but without Clint and Mara's help. They just didn't get out anymore. Rumors began to spread until there wasn't anything left.

He started doing a facial recognition and a last known whereabouts search. It was going to take a while so he got up and looked at Nat who had passed out finally. He rolled his eyes happy that at least someone was getting some rest this night and walked out of the room to get her soup.

He came back an hour later loaded with goodies and a clear head. He looked over at the bed _not_ seeing a sleeping Natasha. His bagel fell from his mouth, "Nat?" His eyes scanned the room quickly and landed on her in the corner of the room in front of the laptop, "You're supposed to be in bed." He scolded.

"It started beeping, it was annoying." She looked at him her red locks falling into her face, "Who's this?" She indicated the picture of a woman on the screen.

He walked over looking at the screen. _God she hasn't changed much._ She still had those dark eyes, but her hair was cut off at her shoulders now. He smiled at Mara being caught on a security camera outside a market in Sicily, "That is our ticket to success. Eat up and rest up we hit the road in the morning."

"But my surgeries…" Nat looked at him. The drugs were wearing off and she was getting agitated.

"We'll transfer it to a hospital there." He told her setting her soup on the table with the rest of the food, "Won't be hard to do, after all you are persuasive."

"Har har…" She rolled her eyes, "Where are my meds? I feel like I'm about to punch something, and I really don't want to break you."

"I don't know. You had them last." He sat down to start eating ignoring her obvious jab at him.

"Clint…"

"Nat…" he looked at her then sighed as he got the death glare from her, "Fine I'll check the car." He got to his feet and started outside, "Don't eat my bagel."

"Thank you!" She rang after him reaching for her soup.

Once Nat was fed and thoroughly drugged up she rested, while he put the finishing touches on the Archer's stunning return to the world. He sighed looking at the screen hours later; all that was left was to push a button to make it real and to do that he needed Mara to say yes.

He sighed leaning back into the chair stretching then stood up putting everything away. He glanced at Nat as he walked to the door with the bags. He silently debated with himself if he should just go and do this alone and leave her there.

Shutting the trunk of the car he decided that living was a better option. A scary Natasha Romanoff was never a good thing to have following you around, just meant you had a target on your back. He walked back inside over to her shaking her awake, "Nat, wake up time to go."

She opened her eyes slightly, "Now?"

"Yes now, you ready?"

"I guess, but where's the fire?" She looked at him yawning as he scooped her up. She made a face as her leg was pinched against his arm.

"No fire, just the sooner we make contact with Mara, the faster we can get this mission going and go home." He told her adjusting her as he walked out the car so he wasn't hurting her as much.

"Really?" She eyed him in the morning light.

He sighed relenting, "I know her, the woman we're going to meet and we worked well together back in the day." He set her down in the seat, "Really well."

"Really well?" She stared at him still raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yeah…" He looked at her then shut the door and walked around the car getting inside, "Kinda like you and me, we work well together, we can anticipate what the other does."

"Uh huh." She got comfortable as he backed out of the parking lot popping a pill in her mouth.

He smirked glancing at her, "You sound jealous Nat."

"I'm not jealous." She rolled her eyes and looked at him, "I just don't work well with others…too much liability."

Clint knew all too well about the liability of having more than one person on a mission, but he also knew that it could work out well…when people didn't break there femurs, "Well you can't dance or walk so you don't get many options." He told her, "Get some rest. It's going to be a couple of hours."

He looked at the address on the piece of hotel paper then looked up at the house cocking an eyebrow. This couldn't be right. This place looked too natural, too calm, too…normal.

"This it?" Nat looked past him to the house.

"I guess so." He told her slowly turning to her slowly giving her a serious look, "Stay in the car." He got out and walked up to the door slowly still taking in the house. Two story, small balcony on the second floor, vines crawling up the sides of the house, everything made out of stone and wood. It was quaint needless to say.

He raised his hand and knocked firmly on the door. He could hear a couple of people and laughter on the other side of it. The door opened and he saw her. His mouth went dry suddenly and he cursed inwardly. _Say something you fool._

"Uh…hey Mara."

She stared at him her face going red, fear racing through her eyes before they narrowed in on him, "Cosa diavolo vuoi Barton?" She snapped at him.

He raised his hands looking at her as she yelled at him in Italian, "There's no need for hostilities. I need your help."

"Get the fuck off my property." She started to shut the door.

"Mara please. My partner is hurt and I need someone for this mission." He put his hand on the door to stop it from closing, "I wouldn't ask if I didn't really need the help."

"Get. Off. My property." She told him clenching her jaw her, dark brown eyes glared at him with so much pain. What was causing this hostility toward him? From what he remembered they had left on good terms. Really good terms.

"Mara…" He stared at her confused but still intending to have her hear him out.

"Mamma?" Clint watched her eyes close cursing to herself. _Mom? She was a mom?_ The voice wasn't young sounding. Clint's face went blank trying to process this new bit of information.

"Jeremy vai al piano di sopra." She looked back at someone, obviously male.

"Mamma, cosa c'è di sbagliato? Chi è?" Footsteps walked toward the door quickly as Mara protested more telling them to go to the kitchen or upstairs.

"Jeremy." She hissed as a young man's face appeared over her head.

Clint stared at him his mouth dropping open slightly at the face. The boy smiled his blue eyes lighting up with curiosity by who was standing at their door, "Hello, can we help you sir?"

"Oh wow…" Nat was hobbling up behind Clint, "There are surprises around every corner these days. It's nice to know that your eyes get passed along Clint."

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**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think and what can be approved upon!**

**NTK**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to those who stopped by to check out my story! Let the drama ensue!**

**Own nothing!**

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"Clint?" Jeremy's eyes went wide and he looked at his mother, "Mamma?"

Clint stared at the kid's face, but he might as well have been looking at himself at a younger age. Aside from the darker hair which he got from his mother, he was a Barton.

"Jeremy…" She pushed the boy back inside letting the door fall open as she spoke to him quickly in their native tongue. She pointed somewhere to the back of the house. He protested, "Ey!" She gave a warning noise and pointed more firmly away from the door. He huffed in defeat walking off.

She turned back to the two agents glaring coldly, "Well come in already." She snapped.

Clint turned back to Nat, "You were supposed to stay in the car." He helped her inside "You're not supposed to walk on it."

"I don't listen to you ever, what makes you think a broken leg is going to make me?" She told him.

"Femur?" Mara started pulling pillows of the small sofa so Nat could rest her leg.

"Yeah." Nat nodded, "How'd you know?"

"Jeremy broke his when he was nine, jumped off the bunk bed." She watched Clint put her on the couch carefully, "It's not broken if you can still walk, it's fractured…by the hobble, probably almost a full break."

Clint looked at Mara not knowing what to say, "Mara…"

"Don't…just tell me what you want so I can tell you no and then to get you out." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Mara, it's a matter of nuclear war. If I didn't think-" He started.

"That's the problem though, you don't think. You never did, then I was always the one to pick up after you…I'm not with the agency anymore." She whispered harshly stepping up to him, "I'm not that person anymore. So go ahead and rest, but you have thirty minutes to be gone." She started out of the room.

"Mara…" He growled following her catching her arm in his hand when they hit the hall, "Mara stop."

She swung around to slap him but he caught her wrist. She stared up at him tears forming in her eyes, "I am not that person anymore Barton."

"Mara the kid…" He whispered looking at her seriously. He had to know what was going on.

"He's not yours." She snapped at him quickly turning her face away from him.

He looked at her shaking his head, "Mara you seriously think I'm that stupid? We were trained to recognize families by their faces. It's like looking in a mirror." He said a little unnerved.

She cursed ripping her arm from his grasp, and pointed in his face, "He is not yours." She turned on her heels. That was a threat this time, not a statement, and it sent chills up his spine.

Clint stood there and watched her disappear into a room. The door slammed shaking the pictures on the walls of the hall. He swallowed looking at a photo of her and Jeremy. He was younger in the photo, probably around 8, she held him kissing his cheek as he made a face. Something inside of him stirred as he walked back to Nat.

"She's not going to help us." Clint told her shaking the feeling off.

"She will." She looked up at him confidently.

"No she won't." He narrowed his eyes on her, "I'm going to scrub it." She gave him a look as he pulled out his phone, "What? What do you know that I don't?"

"That." She pointed to the staircase behind him.

Clint turned slowly looking back and saw the kid. He was looking at them then glanced over to the hall and then walked over to them quickly, "You're here for my mom?" He asked them.

Clint looked at him and nodded, "Yeah, but I'm not going to make her do anything. If she feels uncomfortable with the job we've offered, then we'll leave." How could so much of his face pass on through genes alone?

Jeremy stared at Clint for a long while before he turned to Nat, "Is it important?"

Nat nodded slowly, "She would be saving a lot of people if she gave us a hand, but like Clint said we're not going to make her do anything. We don't want to put you two at risk."

Jeremy stared at them both for a long time processing everything. Clint eyed him as his hand went to his chin rubbing it as if he was old enough to have any facial hair. "Just…wait here…" He turned and walked down the hall to where Mara disappeared to.

"That's your plan?" Clint looked at Nat concerned. Maybe the drugs really were affecting her judgment, "The kid?"

"Kids and mothers have a very powerful bond I hear." She told him still confident in her decision, "Its worth a shot, the worse that can happen is she still says no."

Clint shook his head, "You don't know Mara."

"Apparently you don't either." Nat told him, "How do you not know something like this happened? This is a huge problem for you."

"She disappeared." He told her, "Off the radar, agency said she had been asked to retire."

"That's not good sign, and that was what, like… 16…17 years ago?" She asked already picking up on what had happened to Mara Berti's career.

"Yeah something…like that…" He slowed down as it began to sink in on why Mara wasn't an agent anymore, "God dammit…"

_Well this whole entire trip was productive. Nat gets put out of commission, I look up an old agent to get help, find out I'm probably a father, and now that I ruined someone's career because of a fucking wild night. Fantastic, now all I need is her to actually say yes to make everything more awkward._

"Mamma devi aiutarli." Clint was pulled out of his thoughts as they walked back out Mara in front of Jeremy as he tried to reason with her.

"Get out." She pointed at the door looking at Clint.

"Mamma!" Jeremy shouted at her.

"Jeremy non si conoscono queste persone che si avvolgono tutto in modo che si lavorerà con loro!" She snapped at her son. She was in full mama bear mode.

"I am offended, I don't twist words I merely make them sound more pleasing." Nat looked at her making a face.

"Romanoff you are pushing it." Mara looked at her as Nat sat up staring at her, "Yes I know who you are, and anyone with half a brain would know to look you up, Black Widow." She sneered as Jeremy stepped up to stop something from happening.

"Mamma, look at them, seriously look at them." Jeremy told her stepping over in front of Clint, he watched her tense up, "I know that these people are from your past. The one that you never tell me about, but they need your help. Can't you see that?"

"Jeremy…" She warned in a motherly tone.

"They said there would be people in danger, you're the one who's always told me that if you can help you should!" Jeremy told her, "You're always saying that if there is any way to prevent people from being in danger you should act."

Mara swallowed turning away from them putting a hand to her face. Seeing Clint and Jeremy at the same time was frightening. Jeremy spoke to her back, "Mamma, mamma per favore. Guardate negli occhi e dirmi che stanno mentendo. Mamma hanno bisogno di te."

He was right. She could see it in both the agents eyes that they really did need her help, they weren't lying. She wasn't that out of practice. But that meant there was a nuclear threat out there, which also meant her baby was in as much danger as the kid next door.

Mara turned looking at them unhappily, "Fine…but we do this on my terms."

Clint looked at her surprised then to Nat who was smirking at him. He rolled his eyes slightly and looked back to Mara, "You know we can only do that to an extent, Mara."

"My demands won't be that hard to appease I assure you." She looked at Jeremy, "Go to your room and do not come out until I come get you."

Jeremy looked as if he was about to protest when Clint interjected, "Do as you're told. Your mother and we have a lot to talk about." Jeremy looked at him with a glare. Is that what he looked like when he was disgruntled with people? It was kind of scary.

"Jeremy." He looked at his mother, "Go." He huffed and started over and up the stairs.

"Do not order him around." Mara snapped at Clint when Jeremy was upstairs.

"I was backing you up." He defended himself.

"I've been doing this for 16 years just fine without 'back up'." She told him, "And I don't need it now."

They both stared at each other in a hard tense silence. Nat cleared her throat gaining both of their attentions, "We should get started then, Clint you should get everything from the car."

Mara watched him walk out of the house briskly. She sighed looking up at the ceiling. She could hear Jeremy moving around upstairs. She only hoped that he would listen to her for once.

Nat watched as the stress began to ripple over Mara's features, "He's just doing his job you know."

"Doing his job puts _my_ son at risk." Mara looked at her sharply.

Nat stared at her the drugs were wearing off again, "Look this isn't the most ideal situation, we are all well aware of that, but the sooner you start cooperating the sooner we're gone and you can have your life back."

"Cooperating?" Mara stepped toward her, "You came to me and pretty much ambushed me. A person who isn't an agent and you want to talk to me about cooperating?"

Nat stared up at her, "Take another step I dare you. It would make my day."

Mara was about to comply when the door opened with Clint walking into the house. He was looking down presently at his phone but he didn't need to look up to know what was going on, "You two done?"

"Hardly, I think Ms. Berti was about to make her move." Nat continued to stare at Mara egging her on.

"Nat, enough." Clint walked over glaring at her, "Is the living room the base or do you want it someplace else?" He looked at Mara for an answer.

"Follow me…we don't need my nosey neighbors to see us in here with a hit list." She turned on her heels heading toward a room in the back of the house.

Clint gave Nat a look to cool it. She just shrugged as he picked everything up and followed Mara.

She took him to a spare bedroom that contained a small bed and a dresser. He looked at her as she stood with her arms crossed firmly across her chest. Her face was red with emotions as she stared at him.

He swallowed setting everything on the bed, "Do we need to talk?"

"Is there something to talk about?" She looked at him her voice cracking giving herself away. They were going to have to work on that.

"Are you really going to do this with me?" Clint opened the bags roughly glancing at her.

"I don't know, do I really get a choice?" She snapped back at him making him stop and look at her. She took a step back her hands dropping to her sides. He recognized that as her way of preparing herself for an attack.

He looked at her then let out a sigh relaxing his face, "Fine. Why didn't you call and tell me?"

"Would it really have changed anything Clint?" She looked at him sadly, "You were and are Agent Clint Barton. Super spy marksmen, I didn't think you'd give it all up to be a dad."

He stared at her for a moment then started pulling things out setting them on the bed. She had just admitted to him that he was in fact the father of the boy upstairs. Boy was the wrong term. He was a young man by Clint's standards anyway.

Mara sighed shaking her head her hands balling up, "Yeah…that's what I thought." She started out of the room.

"What?" He grabbed her arm for the second time that day stopping her, "What did you think?"

Mara swallowed looking at his hand on her arm. At one point in her life she would've enjoyed his warm touch, "That I made the right choice." She looked up at him, eyes pricking with tears as she ripped her arm away from him.

He watched her walk out and stood there in the small room alone. He could feel something inside of him something he wasn't sure about. Something that made him want to turn things back.

_It's an impossible notion so let it go._ He swallowed wetting his dry throat and started to set everything up on the dresser. They had a lot to do before they could set any of this into motion.

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**Again thanks for reading, drop a line and tell me what you think! **

**NTK**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!**

**Own nothing.**

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Clint was beginning to lose track of time as he walked in and out of the house getting equipment from the car to the spare room. It wasn't easy hooking up a secure line into a house with only one internet hook up. Not to mention tapping into phone lines without being seen or at the very least not draw too much attention to one's self. To top it all off repair a fuse box that blows out because the house can't handle anything besides a toaster.

"God dammit!" He cursed again as the live wire shocked him again.

"You know you can turn the power off, right?" Clint looked up from the panel in his lap to the stairs of the basement. The kid…

Clint stared at him a moment, "That would be the wise and smart decision, but I'm not just working with your fuse box anymore."

"Do you need help?" He walked over to Clint and stared down at the mess of wires and made a face at the hole in the wall.

"Uh do you know anything about transformers?" Clint looked at him then to the hole, "And how to keep your mouth shut until I can fix that?"

He laughed, "Well the second one most definitely. As for the first, I know how to hold a flash light and hand you wire cutters."

"That'll do. Take a seat." Clint told him picking up a splicer, "Its Jeremy right?"

"Yeah…Clint Barton?" Jeremy watched him nod and twist some wires together hissing as a spark licked his fingers, "You knew my mom from when she was younger?"

Clint tensed a little, not that he would notice, but he needed to watch that from now on. He nodded, "Yeah…we worked together."

A small silence passed between them, "Were you two together?"

_Wow straight to the tough ones._ Clint let out an audible sigh, "Uh sorta kinda, not really."

Jeremy looked at him and made a noise making Clint look at him, "Kinda? Really? You either were or you weren't."

"It's complicated…" Clint mumbled.

"Can't be that complicated." Jeremy held up a flash light making it easier to see the panel, "Not when you hook up enough to make me."

Clint stopped and looked at him. So he knew that he was his biological father, interesting. Clint now wondered how long he knew, but that wasn't really what was bugging him "How much do you know?" The kid stared at him blankly, "Come on kid I'm not stupid and you know it. Not to mention your attempt to be stealthy and drop your recording mic down the vent into our base wasn't so stealthy."

The kid's mouth dropped and eyes got wide, "I did that when you were out of the room."

"Did you?" Clint smirked.

Jeremy collected himself and glared slightly, "So you're a type of agent, which means my mom used to be one?"

Clint shrugged going back to the panel of wires, "You're assumption may or may not be correct."

"Oh come on, give me something. She won't tell me anything." Jeremy put the flash light down in his lap frustrated.

Clint looked at him grabbing his wrist making him hold up the light again, "Listen if you're anything like Mara, which you are, you'll find what you're looking for eventually."

"She would disagree." Jeremy watched him cut more wires and connect them to ones that ran out through the hole, "She tells me all the time that I'm a lot like my dad."

Clint stopped and looked at him as Jeremy looked him in the face, "She told me you were the best of them, but whenever I asked where you were, she just got quiet."

"She had her reasons keeping that from you." Clint told him nodding his head, "She's your mom, she has your best interest in mind. Mara has always been that way."

""She's always been way too cautious and overbearing? Sounds like she would be a bad agent." Jeremy looked up at Clint jumping back a little from the stern glare he was giving him, "What?"

"She's your mom, so watch your mouth." Clint sized him up to intimidate him.

Jeremy seemed oblivious to the action however and was your typical teenager, "Why?"

Clint rolled his eyes shaking his head, "Because she brought you into this world that's why. She carried and raised you." He smirked a little at an afterthought, "That and she always has this nasty habit of hearing everything." He flipped the switch letting the power turn back on.

Jeremy laughed and looked up at the light smiling, "No kidding, eyes and ears like a hawk."

"More then you know kid." Clint stood up with the panel and started to hook it up on some brackets he secured to the wall earlier. He leaned forward on his toes letting his shirt rise up his back.

"What kind of gun is that?" He heard behind him.

Clint ignored him finishing up the panel and pulled his shirt back around his waist to hide his weapon, "Go upstairs and tell Mara that she can turn everything on including the backups."

"Right…" Jeremy stood up walking over to the stairs, "You know-"

"This isn't the best time for 'you know' statements alright?" Clint told him as he knelt down to the hole in the wall rearranging the wires. He could feel Jeremy's eyes on him for a long time before finally going upstairs. The assassin let out the breath he was holding once he was gone. He had a feeling he would be hearing a long speech later from a very upset mother.

Once he patched everything up and picked up downstairs, he walked up the stairs slowly to get back to work. There was so much to do. Training Mara, rewriting accounts, finding the house, the cars everything. He sighed heavily.

He opened the door to seeing Mara jumping back into the wall, "Oh god Baton…"

"Sorry?" He raised an eyebrow looking at her._ Skittish we'll have to fix that._ He stared at her as she calmed down_,_ "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, no, I was coming to get you actually." She told him moving her hand from her chest to her side.

"For?" He asked her cautiously. He'd just had a conversation with her son, he wasn't leaving anything to chance.

She caught his hesitation and rolled her eyes, "Oh please…I just made some dinner. Nat said you two haven't eaten since late last night."

"Oh…right. I could eat." He nodded following her to the kitchen.

As he entered he heard Nat, "Oh my god, Berti…this smoothy is amazing." Nat was sipping on a pink looking drink.

"Smoothy?" Clint's interest peaked, "Are these?"

"The very same" Mara handed him one, "Jeremy dinner!" She shouted.

After getting his hearing back Clint stirred the drink and sipped it, "Mmm strawberry banana…" He remembered hot days when Mara used to make them daily.

"All natural still." She told him proudly and called out again, "Jeremy now please!"

"Well they certainly taste…" Clint started to feel his eyes going in and out of focus, "the…" He looked at Mara dropping the glass on the table spilling its contents, "You…you…" he put his hand to his head as he started to fall forward.

"Shh…" Mara caught him by his upper body so his head wouldn't smack against the wood floor, "You needed to rest…" She watched his blue eyes close seeing betrayal in them. He'd been up over 72 hours Nat had informed her. He wouldn't be of use to them if he was tired.

"I told you I wasn't…oh my god! Did you kill him?" Jeremy stared at them on the floor.

Nat busted out laughing and Mara glared at her then to her son, "He's not dead. He wouldn't sleep so we gave him something." She looked at Clint and frowned, "I need your helping moving him to my room."

Jeremy looked at her, "What?"

"I'm not going to let him sleep on the kitchen floor and Natasha has the spare room. So grab his legs. Rapidamente!" She told him and he nodded going into action grabbing his legs. It was one of the things he got from Clint, amazing upper body strength. She could hear Nat chuckling still as they walked Clint out of the room.

Struggling up the stairs and into her room they set him on her bed. Mara stood up stretching, "Thank you Jeremy."

"Yeah…sure…" he nodded catching his breath while putting his hands on his hips, "Anything else?"

She looked at him and smiled walking over to him giving him a hug, "No baby we're good, go get some food and get some rest."

"…O..kay…" he hugged her back getting a strange look on his face, "You make is sound like something's wrong."

"Well consider yourself under house arrest until this is all over."

"Ma!" He pulled away looking at her in distress, "Ma seriously? What about the concert?"

She looked at him sadly, "I know it's important to you sweetie, but…" She frowned looking down, "Things just got really dangerous really fast and I just…I can't put you at any more risk."

"Mamma…" He let out a noise of frustration defaulting to his first language, "Sapete quanto sia difficile ho lavorato per questo!"

"Jeremy I know. I do and I will do everything I can to make it up to you. I will work twice as hard to get you where you need to be." She put her hands on his arms and rubbed them gently, he was so tall now, "I need you to understand."

"Mamma è la Accademia Filarmonica Romana." He looked at her anger filling his eyes, "I won't get another chance, not for years…" he turned storming out.

She stood there frowning watching her son walk away heartbroken. She turned around to Clint opening her mouth to say something, but stopped seeing him fast asleep. She sighed then heard a bedroom door slam shut. She couldn't take it any longer.

Mara sat on the edge of the bed letting the tears slip down her cheeks, "God damn you Clint Barton. Why do you make this so hard?" She looked at him sleeping, "Why couldn't you have been there? Why come back now?"

She laughed through her tears, "You know I used to dream that you would just walk in we'd be happy, then I got your phone call. The one single phone call that you made and I knew it would never happen." She stared at him noticing his burnt finger tips. She stood up walking out and came back with a first aid kit.

_"Mara its Clint…I don't know what happened, they only told me you had to retire." Silence for a moment, "Listen, I just…I got worried…I am worried. We worked so hard on this and…I know you're not the type to just walk away. They wouldn't give me anything about your whereabouts and I pretty much used up all my resources just to get your number, but…I just needed to let you know…well if you need me…if you're in trouble, you know…or something…what I'm trying to say is…just call me. Call me if you need me, or anything…you know how to contact me." _

"I kept the message on the machine almost all through my pregnancy. Some days just hearing your voice made it easier. Knowing I had the option to call you because you gave it to me, but I could never do it." She smiled taking his hands and started to clean them up, "Broke a few telephones against the wall. Then I started having contractions a month early…and the pain Clint…not even your voice could stop it."

She wrapped his fingers, "So I finally let go…I let go of the life I loved, to gain something so much more." She sighed finishing and stared at him sleeping. God, it took her breath away. She always loved watching a man sleep, it showed their vulnerability. They didn't have to be strong or show off, they just were and Clint Barton was by far the most exquisite.

She turned walking out shutting the door behind her. She had a lot to prepare for and she would start with their cover story. Clint had prepared something for them and asked her to go through and change anything and overall make it better.

She passed Nat in the kitchen, "Need anything?"

"Nope, good for now." Nat had a computer, drugs and food. Her partner was finally resting and everyone was working on the mission.

"I'll be in base." Mara heard Nat confirm as she shut the door, "Time to wake up Archer family." She said as she turned on the computer.

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**I have a feeling Agent Barton is going to be well rested and upset when he wakes up, what do you think? Thanks for read and please review it inspires me to write more.**

**NTK**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the wait folks, been a little crazy lately. Anyways thank you for the hits and reviews! Keep'em coming and I'm sure I'll update faster!**

**I own nothing...**

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Light and fluffy. Calm and lulling. Clint could hear birds chirping as his eyes opened slowly. Purple was the first thing that caught his eyes. Purple sheets and purple covered pillows.

He took a deep breath the smell of lilies and vanilla over took him. He let out a small sigh rolling over in the bed he was in reaching behind him, no one was with him. He made a face. The only time he smelled lilies and vanilla together was when he was with…

His eyes got wider as he sat up looking around the room. Mara's room. What was he doing here? The last thing he remembered…

"Dammit…" He got out of the bed and stood up walking out of the room down the stairs carefully. He eyed around the room seeing no one and continued to the kitchen. He could hear the clanking sounds of metal against glass. Peering in, he saw Jeremy with his back to the entrance eating. Clint sighed and stepped inside, "Where's Mara?"

Jeremy jumped startled and looked back at him, "God…how did you do that?"

"Where's your mom?" Clint stared at him repeating.

The kid swallowed noting the irritation in the man's eyes, "She said she was going for a run."

Clint looked at the clock on the wall, "When was that?"

"I don't know…ten minutes ago." He shrugged looking at Clint taking another spoon full of food into his mouth, "Did you sleep well?"

"What?" Clint looked at him not catching what he said.

"They gave you something to sleep…" Jeremy looked at him, "Had to carry you upstairs."

"Oh…" Clint nodded catching the 'they'. So Nat had planned it with her. "Yeah…just fine."

"You don't look fine." Jeremy told him pushing his food around now.

"You don't either." Clint told him, "Something happen?"

"Apparently nothing important." Jeremy stood up throwing the soggy cereal out and started out of the kitchen.

Clint watched him walk away confused. He didn't like not knowing what was going on and teenagers were always unpredictable. Standing there another minute he walked out to go to base.

Opening the door to the spare room he saw Nat in front of the computer. She glanced at him, "Good you're awake."

"You drugged me." He told her with and irritated tone.

"You drank it without checking it, not my fault." She retorted shrugging.

"So I have to check all my food and drinks from now on?" He snapped at her.

Nat looked at him eyes narrowing, "Seriously you want to play this game when we have so much work to do?"

"I could've had most of it done if you hadn't knocked me out." He growled his eyes narrowed back.

"And we would've had to correct most of it because you would've gotten it wrong." He turned looking at a sweaty Mara, "You know we did the right thing." She huffed at him and took a long drink from her water bottle.

"You could've just told me." Clint glared at them both.

Both of them rolled their eyes, while Mara stepped up to him, "Please you know you wouldn't have listened, you're too stubborn."

He looked down into her dark brown eyes feeling his chest tighten as his anger melted away. Cursing to himself, he sighed looking away from her, "How far?"

"Two miles in 12 minutes." She reported to him.

"That's too long." He told her firmly, "We have a week to get you to where you need to be."

"Then we better get started, but first someone has to go to the hospital." She looked past Clint to Nat, "Surgery is this afternoon and they'll put a hard cast on you tonight and release you in the morning."

Clint let air out through his nose, "Family outing it is then. We'll drop Nat off and we'll go to the beach."

"What about Jeremy, I'm not leaving him here alone." Mara looked back at him.

"He can come, wouldn't be a bad idea for him to learn how to defend himself would it?" He looked back at her seeing her distaste for his idea.

She relented finally, "Probably not." She turned, "I'll get some things ready then we can take off." She started out of the room feeling Clint's eyes watch her.

Nat cleared her throat bringing him back to reality, "So you want to approve this so I can get you guys invited to these spectacular parties?"

He turned and leaned down to look at the screens sighing as he read things over quickly, "They look good, process them."

"She's really got you rattled doesn't she?" Nat stared at him.

"What?" He looked at her their faces inches apart.

Nat stared at him seriously, "Clint are you compromised?"

He stood up and stared down at her, "No I'm not."

"Clint I'm serious. It was one thing bringing back an old partner, it's a completely different thing finding out she had your son." Nat told him putting a hand on his arm, "We can still scrub this."

"It's fine, the kid won't be in any danger since we'll be up north and you'll be with him and Mara and I, we'll work everything out during training." He told her with certainty pulling his arm away and crossed them over his chest, "By the end of the week if things aren't looking like they should we can still pull it if need be." It wasn't ideal but it could work.

She stared at him then turned back to the computer, jaw tense, "Okay I'm starting to bring the Archers to life, by the end of the day everything will be secured and in Clint and…Mara Archer's name. You'll have alibis and a good trail to fall back on."

"Good." He nodded looking at her, knowing very well she'd much rather this whole thing just be him and her, "How's the pain?"

"Probably going to get worse, but it'll be manageable." She told him clicking at the computer.

He sighed and nodded watching her work, "Right…I should…go help Mara so we can get going."

"Alright." Nat nodding not taking her eyes off the screens.

He walked up stairs glancing at Jeremy's door that was closed, but Clint could still feel the teenage angst radiate of it. He knocked on Mara's door.

"Come in." He heard and opened the door and walked in looking for her. She walked out of the small walk in closet in a pair of shorts and her sports bra.

"Uh…" He looked away and cleared his throat.

She looked at him and laughed, "Bashful?"

He rolled his eyes feeling the same chill he felt every time he heard her laugh, "Just you're…it's been…."

"Just I'm a mom and it's been 17 years?" She looked at him, "Come on Barton you've seen me in less, I've seen _you _in less. Besides we're supposed to be happily married."

He looked at her finally as she pulled out clothes from a draw, "You should wear something loose." He told her watching her movements.

"I'm aware." She nodded and looked at him, her face flushed, "You're staring."

"It's hard not to." He said taking a step toward her. It was true she was captivating. She still had long strong legs, slender arms, petite frame in general, but it wasn't thin she had substance to herself. His eyes landed on her face when he was a few feet away.

She stared at him then looked away, "Clint…"

"Yes?" He stared at her carefully.

She looked back at him her face redder than ever, "I'm not there yet…" She frowned, "I know I need to act the part and I can do that but…I'm not…'there'."

_There._ He nodded understanding, "Right, well um I just came by to see what we needed to bring with us. I have some equipment in the car, but other than that…"

"We can get food there, but your equipment should be enough." She pulled on the shirt, "Can you get Jeremy for me? He's not talking to me at the moment." She threw some towels into a bag.

"Something wrong? He did seem put off by something earlier." Clint saw her tense and sigh heavily.

"Just crushing my son's dreams, nothing out of the ordinary." She smiled at him, "Don't worry about, I'll make sure to fix it after this is all over."

He frowned, "Can I help in anyway?"

She looked at him then down at her bag, "I'll let you know."

He nodded starting to walk out, "I'll meet you down stairs." He walked out into the hall over to Jeremy's door and knocked, "Uh Jeremy…we're going to the beach, we'll be leaving in ten so meet you down stairs."

"I'm not going." He heard through the door.

_Really kid…_ Clint sighed and spoke through the door, "You don't really have a choice, this is an all house outing."

"I'm still not going." Clint clenched his jaw starring at the door.

"Open the door."

"No."

"Jeremy."

"You're not my dad!"

Clint stared at the door taken aback by the statement. He wasn't trying to be his 'dad'. He was just… He looked over at Mara's door, then back to Jeremy's and opened it walking inside.

"Hey what are you doing?" Jeremy stood up from his desk.

"Look I just want to talk, to make some things clear, alright?" Clint told him taking in the messy room. It was full of instruments and recording equipment. It wasn't guitars though it was mostly classical instruments like violins, cellos, and pianos.

"I don't want to talk." Jeremy told him anger rising to his face.

"Then just listen." Clint told him looking at him intently, making Jeremy back down some, "I am here because I needed help, okay? I've worked with your mom before and she's good at what she does, so being back in Italy it was easy to instantly think of her. I'm not here because of you."

He watched pain ripple into Jeremy's features as he continued, "I didn't know about you until I opened the door here. My job is to make sure that's what's going down doesn't happen and I need a partner to do it. Now your mom is that person because Natasha can't do it." Jeremy sat down, "I can only speculate why Mara didn't tell me about you, and to be honest it's probably a good thing. I'm not a good guy, I don't do good things and it would've just put you in danger."

Jeremy looked up at him, "She never told you."

Clint shook his head looking at him, "No, but you can't be angry with her. The agency that we work for isn't big on families, but they are big on keeping everything locked up. Getting ahold of me is like getting ahold of a dead man. You can talk doesn't mean they actually hear any of it."

The kid before him looked hurt and it made something move in Clint's chest again. Something he'd never felt before as he looked up at him, "Would you have done something if she had been able to tell you?"

He looked at Jeremy swallowing as his throat constricted some, "I…I don't know. I really don't. I'd like to say I'd step up, but I can't say." He looked at the kid sighing, "I know it's not the answer you want to hear, but it's the only answer I have."

Jeremy nodded and stood up, "This…doesn't stop me from being angry with my mom…it's a different issue and it doesn't mean that we're good either."

"I understand, all I'm asking is that you cooperate so we can get this done." Clint told him, "So we're going to the beach to train, you can either learn or watch chicks your choice."

"Chicks?" Jeremy looked at him confused.

"Yeah you know hot girls…" Clint clarified, "You don't call them chicks?"

"No…" Jeremy shook his head, "I'll be down in a minute."

Clint nodded and turned walking out of the room and downstairs. Mara was already helping Nat toward the door, "Here I got her." He scooped Nat up, "Just get the doors." Mara nodded and started opening the doors for him.

And they were off. Clint could only imagine how they were all going to look by the end of the day.

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**Hmmm a super spy and an ex super spy go to the beach to train along with a 16 year old...what possibly could go wrong?**

**Please review! You're amazing! Thanks for reading!**

**NTK**


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